After being projected to finish in the bottom of the Big Ten in 2024, the Badgers exceeded all expectations by finishing fourth, as well as locking in a three-seed in the NCAA Tournament. They were eventually upset by BYU in the second round, but there's no question the team and transfer John Tonje performed much better than most fans anticipated after losing core players Chucky Hepburn and AJ Storr. Once again, Greg Gard and company have turned to the transfer portal to make another run, so where does ESPN's Joe Lunardi predict this squad to finish in his first bracketology of 2025?
Lundari projects the Badgers as a six-seed in his opening forecast. Of the 12 Big Ten teams he has in the bracket, Wisconsin lands behind Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, USC, and Ohio State. It would mark the Badgers' third-straight season as a single-digit seed in the Big Dance.
Can the Badger basketball outperform their six-seed projection?
Much like last season, it's going to be incredibly difficult to project how this 2025 team will fare. They return only two starters in John Blackwell (barring an NBA surprise) and Nolan Winter and will feature at least 10 new faces altogether. Gard hit the lottery last year with John Tonje, and to do so twice would be tough. The new transfers on paper seem like good fits and true freshman Zach Kinziger could earn playing time early, so a six-seed seems very plausible.
The Big Ten schedule, which was released on Tuesday, could prove to be difficult for Wisconsin, however. They'll play Purdue twice and have matchups against other projected NCAA Tournament teams in Ohio State, Iowa, UCLA, USC, Michigan, Oregon, and Illinois.
Ultimately, it feels like the Badgers could finish as high as another three-seed or as low as a 10-seed, depending on how the new transfers mesh.